Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

What was once an obscure, fringe — many thought eccentric — legal theory is now the prevailing jurisprudence of the land, adopted by at least five members of the Supreme Court. That theory is called “originalism” and the idea is that the Constitution should be interpreted just at its authors intended those words when theyContinue reading “The Folly of “Originalism””

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit my soon-to-be 93-year old mother at her apartment in an assisted living facility. We had a lovely brunch. On my way out I noticed her absentee ballot sitting on the kitchen table. I asked her if she wanted me to drop it in the mail. SheContinue reading “Is My Mom a Criminal?”

I would like liberals to have a majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. But I would also like those liberals to be fair-minded, to follow the law even when it leads them to conclusions that they don’t personally like, and most definitely to not be captured by hard-left fundamentalism. I’m not sure that the threeContinue reading “Liberal Jurists Shouldn’t Be Woke”

As the smoke starts clearing from a flurry of historic U.S. and Wisconsin supreme court decisions, one consistent theme is becoming pretty clear. These conservative courts are shifting power on a massive scale toward legislative bodies and away from courts and executives. The reversal of Roe puts the issue back before states or, when RepublicansContinue reading “Conservative Courts Empower Conservative Legislatures”

I’ve been flirting openly with the idea of voting for Mandela Barnes in the Democratic primary for Senate. (Much of my writing over the next month is likely to be about my angst over who to vote for in that contest.) Dan Bice isn’t helping with that decision. Yesterday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s political reporter/columnistContinue reading “Does Barnes Want to Win?”

Republicans laid in wait for the Independence Day weekend. Then they dug out an old video clip of Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes saying something perfectly reasonable about the founding of our country (slavery was a bad thing) and attempted to fill the holiday weekend news lull with distortions about it. This speaks volumes. Did theContinue reading “Maybe Mandela”

Ok, so this isn’t going to be your traditional rah-rah Independence Day piece. I’m also going to take a break from lamenting the state of our democracy right now — there’s a lot to lament. Nope, today is for idle musing about which side I’d have been on in 1776. The more I read aboutContinue reading “I Might Have Been a Tory”

Be careful what you wish for. Pres. Joe Biden, who has resisted calls from progressives to eliminate the Senate filibuster, said yesterday that he would make an exception for a bill that would codify Roe and reestablish abortion as a national right. His statement is mostly symbolic. He said the same thing about his votingContinue reading “Liberals Should Want to Save the Filibuster”

Before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week abortion did not even register as a significant issue among voters. That’s probably because it seemed like settled law; not something you really had to think about. In fact, the level of public support for Roe remaining the law of the land had been remarkablyContinue reading “How Much Will Roe Matter?”

If you’re like me, you’re having a hard time keeping up with the inanity, the hypocrisy, the wasted money, and the sheer incompetence of the Gableman “investigation” into the 2020 elections.  So, as a public service, I’ve gone back and combed through news articles to provide you the reader with a retelling of the sorryContinue reading “A Catalogue of Gableman’s Incompetence”